Door latch



March 4, 1941. Y L, MARQUARDT 2,233,625

' DOOR LATCH Filed May '7, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 fizventarLeonaralAMargaarat L. A. MARQUARDT DOOR LATCH March 4, 1941.

Filed May 7, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 leonardfliqivywdi Patented Mar. 4,1941 UNITED STATES noon LATCH Leonard A. Marquardt, Elmhurst, Ill.,assignor to W. H. Miner, Inc., Chicago, 111., a corporation of DelawareApplication May 7, 1938, Serial N0. 206,581

1 Claim.

This invention relates to improvements in door latches.

One object of the invention is to provide an automatically operatinglatching means for swinging doors adapted to hold the doors in openposition.

Another object of the invention is to provide latch means of thecharacter indicated in the preceding paragraph especially adapted forhinged doors of refrigerators cars, the latch means being especiallydesigned to be easily -perated to release the same when the edge of thedoor is grasped to swing the same away from the car wall to closingposition.

Other objects of the invention will more clearly appear from thedescription and claims hereinafter following.

In the drawings forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a sideelevational view of a portion of a refrigerator car having a pair ofhinged doors, illustrating my improvements in connection therewith.Figure 2 is an enlarged horizontal sectional View, through a portion ofthe car wall and a portion of one of the doors shown in Figure 1,illustrating the door swung to fully open position against the car walland showing my improvements in plan in connection therewith. Figure 3 isavertical sectional view, corresponding substantially to the line 3-3 ofFigure 2. Figure 4 is an elevational view looking from right to left inFigure 3 with the keeper omitted and illustrating in connectiontherewith a different embodiment of the invention.

In said drawings, the side wall of the car is indicated by H), the samehaving the usual side door opening 'I I closed by a pair of hinged doorsl2 and I3. The door I2 is closed first and latched in closed position bywell-known rotary latch elements M and I5 cooperating with the top andbottom portions of said door. The door it is swung to closed positionafter the door l2 has been closed and latched and is then forced tightlyshut by any suitable means, forexample, a rotary keeper engaging crankbar it cooperating with keepers ll-l'| on the car wall. When the doorsare opened they are swung outwardly against the car wall.

In carrying out my invention, I employ a latching mechanism for eachdoor for holding the same in open position, comprising broadly asupporting bracket A on the door; a pivoted latch element B on thebracket; and a keeper element 0 fixed to the car wall in cooperativerelation with the latch element,

The supporting bracket A is in the form of a plate member l8 narrowedbetween its top and bottom ends to provide laterally extending securingears |9-i9 and !9l9. At said narrowed portion, the plate It is providedwith laterally spaced outstanding pivot lugs 2il2ll having horizontallyaligned pivot pin-receiving open- The supporting bracket A is secured toings. the door near the bottom thereof and closely adjacent its outer orfree edge, as most clearly shown in Figures 1 and 2, any suitablefastening elements being employed for this purpose, as for I example,screws extending through the ears l9- i9 and into the door.

The latch element B is preferably in the form of a casting having anoutstanding arm 2| provided with a keeper engaging hook 22 at its outerend. The latch element B is pivotally supported between the lugs 2il2iiof the supporting bracket A by a pivot pin 23 in the form of a headedrivet extending through the openings of said ears and a suitable openingin the element B. As shown most clearly in Figure 3, the latch element Bis further provided with an upstanding finger piece 25 by which the samemay be manipulated. This finger piece is normally inclined outwardlyaway from the outer surface of the door whereby sufficient clearance isprovided to swing the latch engaging portion thereof is disposed mainlybelow a horizontal plane coincident with the pivotal axis of the elementB when the latter is in the normal position, thereby assuring properlocking engagement thereof with the keeper element. A recess 26 is thusprovided between the hook 22 and the main body of the latch element B.The rear wall of this recess presents a substantially vertical abutmentface 27 parallel to the stop face 25 hereinbefore described. The hook 22preferably has an upwardly inclined outer slightly curved face 28adapted to cam the latch member upwardly to effect automatic engagementthereof with the keeper element when the door is swung into openposition against the car wall. As further shown in Figure 3, the innerface of the engaging end of the hook 22 is slightly undercut, asindicated at 29, to properly interlock with the keeper element C.

The keeper element C is also in the form of a casting and comprises asubstantially rectangular base plate 30 having a horizontally disposedeye member extending therefrom. The eye member comprises a pair ofoutstanding spaced side arms ill-3! extending from the plate andconnected at their outer ends by a transversely curved section 32. Anelongated opening 33 is thus provided for the eye member adapted toreceive the hook 22 of the latch element 3 The keeper element C issecured to the side wall of the car by any suitable fastening elements,for example,

screws extending through the base plate 30 and into the wall I0. Thekeeper element C is so located that the hook 22 of the latch element Bwill register therewith when the door is swung to fully open positionagainst the car wall It], and. the curved section 32 permits properengagement of the hook 22 therewith in the angular position of the doorwith respect to the car side wall when the door is swung to its fullyopen position. As will be evident, by providing the keeper element Cwith this curved section 32, which forms, in effect, a rounded eyeportion, the 'keeper element will properly cooperate with either theleft or right hand door, the same being universal to allow for thedifference in angularity of the two doors with respect to the car wall.The outer top edge of the section 32 is rounded off, as indicated atI33, to present a cam face over which the cam face 28 of the hook 22 ofthe latch B may ride to effect lifting of said latch element when thesame is pushed against the keeper C as the door is swung open. The innerface of the section 32 of the eye is undercut, as indicated at 34, toassure interlocking of the hook 22 of the latch B with the keeper C. Theouter face of the section 32 is substantially straight in a verticaldirection, thereby providing an abutment surface 35 adapted to cooperatewith the abutment face 21 of the latch element B to limit movement ofthe door toward the car 7 wall, the keeper C thus acting also as a doorcheck or stop.

As will be evident upon reference to Figure 3, when swinging movement ofthe door is checked by engagement of the stop or abutment face 2'! ofthe latch element B with the stop or abutment face 35 of the keeper C,the stop or abutment face 25 of the latch B bears on the plate l8 of thebracket A and pressure is transmitted directly through the body of thelatch element B to the plate I 8, thereby relieving the pivot pin 23from undue strain. It is further pointed out that the opening 26 of thelatch B is of such a depth that, in the normal position of the latchelement, the top wall of said recess or, in other words, the underneathside of the horizontal arm 2 I, is spaced a predetermined distance abovethe eye of the keeper C, thereby allowing for unavoidable sagging of thedoor which may after a time occur due to the great weight of said door,and

still assure proper locking engagement of the latch B with the keeper C.This predetermined clearance is slightly in excess of the normal amountwhich a door will sag in service so that there will be no danger of thelower edge of the arm 2! coming into engagement with the top of the eyeportion of the keeper C prior to downward swinging movement of the latchbeing stopped in the normal position shown in Figure 3, thus assuringfull engagement of the undercut inner face 29 of the hook 22 of thelatch B with the cooperating undercut face 34 of the eye of the keeperelement C. As shown in Figure 2, the undercut face 29 is convex orcurved transversely to truly seat against the face 34 of the curvedsection 32 of the eye of the keeper C.

When either door of the refrigerator car is swung open, the hook 22 ofthe latch B of said door rides over the transverse section 32 of the eyeof the keeper C and drops into the opening of said eye, movement of thedoor being positively checked by engagement of the abutment face 21 ofthe latch element B with the stop face 35 of the keeper C. As shown inFigure 3, the parts are so proportioned that clearance is providedbetween the hook 22 of the latch B and the inner side of the curvedsection 32 of the eye of the keeper C, when movement of the door ischecked, whereby the hooked end of the latch element is free to dropinto the eye of the keeper.

To swing the door from its fully open position against the car wall toclose the same, the operator grasps the edge of the door and at the sametime manipulates the latch B to swing it out of engagement with thekeeper element C. This can be accomplished by the use of one hand alone,as the latch is located closely adjacent the edge of the door so thatthe finger piece 24 thereof 15 may be pressed open and swung against thedoor at the same time that the edge of the door is grasped.

In Figure 4 the finger piece 24 of the latch B is shown as provided witha cross piece 36 at its upper end, thereby presenting a T-shapedoperating handle portion. This arrangement brings the finger gripportion of thefinger piece nearer the edge of the door than in the typeof finger piece shown in Figure 3, thereby making the former still moreaccessible for operation by the hand used in grasping the door. It isfurther pointed out that by the use of the T-shaped handie portion, thelatch, together with its supporting bracket, is universal so that it maybe applied to either door, projecting portions of the T of the operatinghandle providing lateral eX- tensions from the finger piece at oppositesides of the handle so that, when the device is applied to the righthand door, one of said extensions lies at the free edge of said door,and when applied to the left hand door the other extension lies near thefree edge of the latter.

I have herein shown and described what I now consider the preferredmanner of carrying out my invention, but the same is merely illustrativeand I contemplate all changes and modifications that come within thescope of the claim appended hereto.

I claim:

In a door latch for a hinged door member adapted to be swung to openposition against a wall member, the combination with a bracket securedto the outer side of one of said members, said bracket presenting a flatabutment face parallel to the plane of the door; of a latch elementpivoted to said bracket for swinging movement on a horizontal axis, saidlatch element having an outstanding arm provided with a downturnedhooked end; a fiat abutment face on said latch element swingable intofiat faced engagement with said abutment face of the bracket to limitmovement of said latch element and normally maintain said arm inhorizontal position; an abutment face on said latch element below saidarm and inwardly of said hooked end thereof, said last named abutmentface being parallel to said second named abutment face; a keeper fixedto the other of said members, said keeper having an outstandinghorizontally disposed eye portion with which said hooked end of the armis engageable; and a vertical abutment face on the outer side of saideye portion engageable by said third named abutment face of said latchelement in a plane below the horizontal plane of the-

